Photo: Henry Hudson Kitson · Public domainLexington has some of the highest household incomes of any U.S. town
4.7% of residents are in poverty, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Measured by household income, Lexington is among the highest-earning towns in the country. The two grades for Lexington are A+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lexington
Home offices are common in Lexington
37% of Lexington workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
79% of Lexington’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 83% of the jobs based in Lexington. The jobs ↓
Lexington is where the jobs are
Lexington has 24,023 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Lexington’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Massachusetts average of 29. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Lexington is services
91% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Lexington earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lexington is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #11 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($238,444, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lexington could be anywhere from A to A+.
How long Lexington spends getting to work: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lexington workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,374 commuters (the 37% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Lexington
24,023 jobs are based in Lexington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lexington, 2013 → 2023: 19,365 → 24,023. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lexington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lexington by day and by night
On a workday 13,110 residents head out to work, 1,625 work right here, and 22,398 people come in from elsewhere.
About 44,000 people are in Lexington on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Lexington’s workers come from
Where Lexington clocks in
24% of workers
14% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Miles to work from Lexington
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Lexington is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lexington is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #34 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Lexington near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,394 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 57% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.4% of Lexington households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Lexington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lexington places 35th of 1,287 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 24,000 to 47,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| 34 | Clear Creek Township OH | 38,358 | $132K | 2.4% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| 35 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 36 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| 37 | Cranford Township NJ | 24,725 | $156K | 2.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Stoneham MA | 24,253 | $114K | 5.4% | 2.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lexington, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns next door employ 13% of Lexington
The biggest share goes to Waltham (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lexington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | – | A+ | A+ | 31 min | $238,444 |
| Burlington | 4% | A | A | 28 min | $146,436 |
| Winchester | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 31 min | $230,198 |
| Woburn | 2% | B+ | A | 25 min | $111,185 |
| Arlington | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 32 min | $150,701 |
| Lincoln | under 2% | A+ | B− | 26 min | $175,117 |
| Bedford | 2% | A− | A− | 26 min | $172,400 |
| Waltham | 5% | A− | A+ | 25 min | $120,216 |
| Belmont | under 2% | A | A+ | 29 min | $183,137 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lexington’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lexington: questions
What is the median household income in Lexington?
$238,444 (±$17,708) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lexington?
4.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lexington?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lexington work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (24%, 14 mi), Cambridge (14%, 7 mi), Waltham (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lexington walkable?
Lexington is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lexington without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 57% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lexington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lexington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.